On a minor type of sentence mood: Optatives in Chinese

This paper discusses Chinese optative sentences, which are constructed based on the optative construction in the form of a yàoshì / rúguǒ clause as a clausal subject plus a matrix clause jiù + positive adjectival predicate + le , such as jiù hǎo le 'jiu nice Prc'. We propose an ordered possible world semantics for Chinese optatives. Given Optative ( p ), possible worlds are ordered according to how likely a proposition is true under normal circumstances and p is true in worlds in which a proposition wished for is true and which are lower in the ordered worlds. In addition, we also propose a Segmented Discourse Representation Theory account for the dynamic semantics of Chinese optatives. In addition to the (static and dynamic) semantics of Chinese optatives, we address three related issues: the construction undergoing grammaticalization, Chinese optatives expressing a counterfactual reading or not, and the use of different connectives jiǎshè / jiǎrú / rúguǒ / yàoshì . 摘要: 本文探讨汉语中的祈愿句。汉语的祈愿句由"要是/如果条件句+就+ 正面谓语形容词+了"，如"就好了"。我们提出一个排序的可能世 界语意。假设有个祈愿句 optative ( p )，可能世界由命题在正常世界是 多可能为真做排序，由低至高，而 p 在命题祈愿为真的世界中为真且 在排序较低的世界为真。我们也提出片段篇章表述理论的动态语意来 解释祈愿句在篇章中的作用。我们也讨论三个议题：祈愿结构正经历 语法化，祈愿句是否表达假设语气及"假设、假如、如果、要是"四 个条件连词是否能出现于祈愿句中。